A respected member of the Sri Lankan Parliament, known for his professional and intellectual attributes and widely regarded as a moderate, recently told a journalist in private conversation that the tragedy of the Sri Lankan press today was that it was either utterly servile or totally hostile to the ruling People's Alliance (PA) government of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
A respected member of the Sri Lankan Parliament, known for his professional and intellectual attributes and widely regarded as a moderate, recently told a journalist in private conversation that the tragedy of the Sri Lankan press today was that it was either utterly servile or totally hostile to the ruling People's Alliance (PA) government of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
Most observers will agree with this view. The PA, like governments anywhere, is only too willing to accept the sycophantic syrup poured out by the government-controlled press. Neither have the rulers shied from using the levers of power to ensure a good press for themselves, often confusing the national interest with their own political interest. So much for the servile press. At the other extreme is the hostile press which is savagely critical of the president and the government and sometimes descends below the bounds of decency in its personal attacks.
In such a climate, Ms Kumaratunga has been getting increasingly impatient with those newspapers she sees as opposed both to herself and the PA. Her impatience slowly turned into rage climaxing recently with a threat to close down some newspapers, allegedly on military advice. Predictably, this raised a howl of protest locally and also earned the president some bad press abroad. Those who remonstrated included the Free Media Movement (FMM), whose leaders had been strong supporters of the PA in the 1994 election campaign.